(CHIEFS)—Travis Kelce has no reason to play football next year. There are no worthwhile records to be set. He has plenty of Super Bowl rings. If he returns to the Chiefs he will be returning to a team taking the first steps toward rebuilding the dynasty that has eroded, as happens to sports dynasties. He is physically and mentally intact and has a wonderful new life awaiting him that there is no reason to delay enjoying.
He caught a couple of passes in the final game of 2025-26 that made him the fifth tight end to get to 13,000 yards and the fastest to get there. He was the fourth-leading scorer for the Chiefs this He played as usual with commitment and effort in an absolutely forgettable game that featured eight field goals and was decided on a safety. With the 14-12 loss the Chiefs finished a 6-11 season with their fourth quarterback on the field and patches at other positions. Chris Oladokun, the number three QB, actually had a higher completion percentage than Patrick Mahomes as the backup to the backup although his quarterback rating was only 15.1 (Mahomes was at an uncharacteristic 68.8.
The last time the Chiefs were this bad was the year before Andy Reid showed up to coach.
Once again, Mahomes and his successors were handicapped by an offensive line that showed all the strength of tissue paper in protection.
The Chiefs gave up the sixth most points in the NFL, ranked 21st among the 32 teams in scoring. Twenty-two players accumulated rushing or receiving yards. Eleven players scored points but Xavier Worthy, Brashard Smith, and JuJu Smith-Schuster had only one touchdown each and Isaih Pacheco had only two.
While the tendency is to think the Chiefs have gotten old, the NFL says they were the 8th youngest team in the league with an average age of 25.92. The youngest team was the Packers at 25.23 and oldest team was the Commanders, 28.09. Chris Jones is the oldest lineman (if you don’t count Kelce), at 31.
A lot of new people will be wearing Chiefs shirts next year, starting with the offensive line that has weakened considerably in the last couple of years or hasn’t reached its potential—perhaps because the Chiefs have haven’t had some of the top-level draft choices for a decade.
They will have their first top ten draft pick since they chose Patrick Mahomes in 2017. Reid is optimistic: “We’ve got a good nucleus of guys that are veteran players. They’ll be back and I think you want that foundation, and that’s where you start. And then you give Brett (Veatch, General Manager) an opportunity to have the draft picks that he has and picking where he’s picking; you know he’s going to do a great job there. And then whatever happens free agent-wise, or guys we signed up — wherever that goes — you still have a long way to go to add people and do what you need. So, there’ll be a fresh start coming up.”
The player lineup isn’t the only parts of the team that’s changing. The Tennessee Titans have asked permission to talk to Steve Spagnuolo, the architect of the defense about their head coaching vacancy. They also want to talk with Offensive Coordinator Mike Nagy, whose conract is up.
Assistant Defensive Line Coach Alex Whittingham is headed to Michigan to work with his dad, Kyle, the new head coach of the Wolverines.
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(MIZPORT)—The first of this year’s Tigers to jump ship have signed with new teams. Senior Wide Receiver Marquis Johnson gets a better deal at Mississippi State and redshirt freshman running back Marquise Davis is rushing to Louisville. Safety Caleb Flaggs is headed to Central Florida. Kansas State gets lineman Keiton Jones.
Late yesterday afternoon, things developed quickly. The first player to shift to Missouri is cornerback Jelil Florence, dropping in from Oregon. He announced his plans to change shirts in November. He was the #54 recruit in 2022, four stars. Florence is a redshirt junior so 2026 is the only year we’ll see him. 35 career tackles and four interceptions. He’s important because all three of this season’s cornerbacks finished their eligibility.
Mizzou also got wide receiver Caleb Goodie from Cincinnati and Auburn linebacker Robert Woodyard Jr.
In non-portal pickups, Missouri took three-star defensive lineman Jocques Felix away from Iowa State. He played for St. Louis Cardinal Ritter and verbally accepted Iowa State before officially settling on Missouri. He’s rated three stars. The Tigers also signed four-star defensive lineman Tajh Overton in December.
(MIZSTATEPORT)—Missouri State’s coach has left for Coastal Carolina, replaced by SMU Offensive Coordinator Casley Woods. But that has sparked a big turnover of ten offensive and eleven defensive players. Missouri State has not signed anyone yet.
(MIZBB)—A Tiger team has finally beaten a ranked opponent during this school year. Missouri withstood a late Florida charge Saturday to upset the 22nd ranked Gators 76-74 at Mizzou Arena. The loss dropped Florida out of the AP top 25 for the first time since week 18 of the 2023-24 season. Five SEC Teams are in the top 25 this week and five more got votes, but Missouri got none.
Trent Pierce saw his first game action after a hand injury early in the season and scored ten points after coming off the bench, including the layup that put Missouri top 66-65, followed by a three-pointer that gave the Tigers a lead they never gave up. Jaden Stone, also returning from injury had 9 points.
Missouri trailed for most of the first half but tied it at the buzzer on a three-pointer by Trent Burns, their 7-5 center.
Florida went into the game leading in rebounds with a plus 17.2. Missouri matched their 37 rebounds. The Tigers are now 11-3
Missouri plays Kentucky in Lexington tomorrow night.
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Speed—
(NASCAR)—Twenty-six days from the NASCAR guys will be racing again. It’ll no an exhibition race at Bowman Gray Stadium.
—One of NASCAR’s iconic speedways has been bought by the International Hot Road Association—Rockingham. “The Rock,” in North Carolina, is home to NASCAR second and third-tier races after being part of the Cup schedule, 1965-2004.
(INDYCAR)—53 days to the engines firing at St. Petersburg to starts the 2026 IndyCar season. But before that several top series drivers will get their blood running at the 24 hours of Dayona. Five of last year’s seven race winners will be on the high banks in sports cars. An IndyCar driver his been part of the winning teams in five of the last six 24s.
Indianapolis 500 winner and national champion Alex Palou and his Ganassi teammate Scott Dixon will drive Acuras in the GTP class for Meyer-Shank Racing. Wayne Taylor Racing’s Cadillac will include Colton Herta, who has left IndyCar to build a Formula 2 career.
Sebastian Bourdais, four time IndyCar champion, will share the cockpit of Tower Motorsports ORECA 07 with Ganassi Driver Kiffin Simpson.
Andretti Global will have all three of its IndyCar drivers. Kyle Kirkwood will be in a Lexus GTD PRO entry. Will Power, who moved to Andretti from Penske in the offseason will get his first taste of the Daytona. Marcus Ericcson will be in a Lamborghini for Wayne Taylor Racing. And Christian Rasmussen will run in the LMP2 class.
Although IndyCar has no races in Missouri, the 2026 schedule offers several day-trip possibilities, depending where you live. Indianapolis hosts a road course race on May 8 with the 110th running of the 500 on May 24th. They’ll be at World Wide Technologies Raceway, just across the river from St. Louis, on June 7. Nashville’s not that far away from some parts of the state. IndyCar will run there on July 10. Races at Milwaukee will be on August 29-30.
(Photo Credits: |Florence: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images; Kelce—Instagram).